The invention relates to a lifting and/or sliding roof suitable for installation into vehicles, with a frame, as a whole, supported against the inside of the solid skin of the roof, a seal carried by the frame and running along the edge of a roof opening and a cover which is held on the frame, which may be tilted up and/or slid-back and/or removed, the edge of the cover seating onto the seal in its position closing the roof opening.
In the case of a known roof of this type (FIG. 6 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,558), the frame is riveted together with the skin of the roof. The heads of the rivets lying on the outside of the skin of the roof are covered up by means of a vinyl covering. The known arrangement, to be sure, has a very low profile above the solid skin of the roof. The riveting together of the frame with the skin of the roof, however, makes installation difficult. In the case of drilling of the through-holes for rivets, the painted finish of the vehicle will easily be damaged. These through-holes, moreover, form starting places for rust. The vinyl roof covering required for covering up the otherwise visible heads of the rivets is frequently undesirable or in any case is not present in the case of a vehicle that is to be retrofit equipped with a lifting and/or sliding roof.
In the case of another arrangement (European Pat. No. 0 014 798) that has a flat disposition above the skin of the roof, a mounting ring is inserted into the roof opening to which a frame carrying a cover is then riveted. The mounting ring, in the area of a forward flange and of two lateral flanges which fit from above against the edge of the roof opening, has attaching bolts facing downwards for the reception of which holes will have to be drilled into the skin of the roof. This again is cumbersome and promotes the formation of rust. Beside this, it has been known (German Pat. No. 32 41 652) to develop the frame in two parts, whereby one frame part fits against the outside and the other frame part fits against the inside of the skin of the roof, and whereby the two parts of the frame are screwed together. This known bipartite roof frame extends relatively highly above the roof skin and the necessary screwing together of both parts of the frame makes the mounting time consuming.
Mounting, to be sure, is simplified in the case of another known roof (German Offenlegungsschrift No. 31 20 817), which has a one-piece frame, the lower portion of which is guided through the roof opening from above. The part of the frame lying, in the mounted state, above the skin of the roof carries a seal. This seal, in the installed condition, is pressed against the outside of the roof skin by means of resilient spring clips which are supported, on the one hand, against the frame and, on the other hand, against the underside of the roof skin. This construction produces an even higher profile above the roof skin. This, however, is undesirable for reasons of design and with a view to achieving a low coefficient of drag (C.sub.D).
The present invention has a primary object of creating a lifting and/or sliding roof of the above-mentioned type wherein an especially low projection of the construction above and below the solid roof skin is achieved along with a further simplified mounting.
This object has been achieved, according to preferred embodiments of the invention, through the fact that the connection of the frame with the skin of the fixed roof is attained solely by a clamping connection holding the frame against the inside of the roof skin.
In the case of the roof according to the invention, no parts of the frame project upward beyond the roof skin. This frame may be held flat without any difficulty. Consequently, the height of the roof construction may be kept especially low. At the same time, the mounting is decisively facilitated by the clamping connection provided. It is not necessary, e.g., in the case of retrofit installation of the lifting and/or sliding roof, to make penetrating holes, for the attaching elements, such as screws or rivets, in the skin of the roof. The production of the clamping connection may be safely carried out without problems even by laymen. Independent of whether the installation takes place with production of the vehicle or subsequent thereto, there is no need to apply other attaching parts on the roof skin, such as by welding.
For connection of the frame with the roof skin, a trim ring with a flange may be provided that is supported in the marginal area of the roof opening against the exterior of the solid roof skin and projects essentially horizontally outwardly with the result that the trim ring, itself, is in a clamping connection with the frame that holds the edge of the roof opening between the trim ring and frame. Such a construction is especially suitable for retrofit installation of the lifting and/or sliding roof. Only the flange of the trim ring extends above the roof skin and this flange may be kept flat without any difficulty.
In accordance with another development of the invention, which is particularly suitable for assembly line production of the vehicle, the roof skin is downturned along the edge of the roof opening, and then the downturned area of the roof skin forms a support for a clamping part. Such a form of construction eliminates the need for a trim ring and there are no attaching parts visible from the exterior.
In the interest of increased safety, the clamping connection is developed, preferably, as a locking clamping connection, for example, by the use of locking projections. For the production of the clamping connection, the trim ring may engage directly with the frame. Instead of that, it is also possible to bring the trim ring and the frame into engagement with one another by way of at least one additional clamping part. In the first mentioned case, the trim ring may have a bridge reaching through the roof opening, which is simply locked into a complementary groove of the frame. This groove may extend essentially perpendicularly in relation to the flange resting on the roof skin. In a modified embodiment, a bridge, which may be locked into the groove, may also run below the edge of the roof opening at a distance from the underside of the roof skin. The frame is developed preferably in one part, although, for example, in the interest of a simplified production of the frame, multi-part frame developments may also come into consideration. Even in the case of multi-part frames, however, the frame as a whole does not project upwardly beyond the solid roof skin. Basically, any kind of material that will fulfill the purpose may be used for the production of the frame, for example, a light metal profile or a sheet metal profile. Preferably, the frame consists at least essentially of plastic.
For a further simplification of the mounting, connecting means for a plate-shaped headliner may be put effectively onto the frame. At the same time, advantageously, a covering strip may be provided which reaches from below the edge of the headliner facing the roof opening thereover, for example, an elastically deflectable lip which in the unstressed condition points from the frame transversely upwards in the direction of the roof skin, is used. Instead of that, it is also possible that a clamping strip for clamping down the edge of a stretch-type headlining is provided on the side of the frame facing the roof opening. In this manner, a neat junction between the headlining and the frame may be produced independently of the type of vehicle headlining provided in a specific case.
A further simplification of the mounting will be achieved whenever the seal for the cover is fixed on the frame by way of a plug-in connection; that is, the seal may effectively be provided with at least one projecting profile shaped for engaging into a complementary recess of the frame. Instead of or in addition to such a connection, the seal may be secured by means of a trim ring. As a result of the type of attachment of the seal, the level in height of the seal does not change, at the places of transition between the lateral parts of the frame and the forward or the rear part of the frame, that is to say, the seal fits evenly against the closed cover. The seal may, otherwise, have a first section made of relatively soft material, for the sealing engagement against the lid in its closed position, and a second section, for example, vulcanized onto it, made of relatively hard material, which serves as a stop that determines the height of the cover in the closed position of said lid.
Effectively, in the area intended to fit against the inside of the skin of the roof, the frame is provided with at least one recess for a sealing and/or adhesive mass.
The trim ring may have a number of different cross-sectional shapes. Especially effective is an essentially Z-shaped or an essentially C-shaped cross section. Various raw materials may be used for the trim ring. Preferably, the trim ring is made of metal. Also plastic trim rings are suitable in the case of a corresponding dimensioning. In order to be able to easily bend the trim rings, especially trim rings with Z-, C- or similar cross sections, to the contour of a roof opening, the trim ring may be provided, advantageously, with a sequence of slits which run essentialy perpendicularly in relation to the longitudinal extent of the trim ring and start out from the edge of said trim ring which lies away from the flange that engages against the outside of the roof skin.
The clamping part is effectively supported on a flange of a downturned edge of the roof skin or the trim ring and is located below the solid roof skin and essentially parallel to it. Advantageously, the clamping part may have an essentially V-shaped cross section, one leg of which fits against the downturned edge of the roof skin or against the trim ring, and the other leg of which seats, at its upper edge, below a projection of the frame.
These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious when the following description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, several embodiments in accordance with the present invention.